Branded
by Apinapoikaerkki
Summary: A meeting in the Vent with Owen has left Cristina with a quite awkward burn. On top of that, she thinks there might be something wrong with Owen. Will anyone help her heal the wounds, both physical and emotional? 6.13 from Cristina's POV. Crowen & a reference to Slexie.


**Author Notes: Thanks for all who read and/or reviewed my first story "On A Mission"! So here is my second one, and if you enjoyed the first one, I hope you'll like this one too! And again, English isn't my native language, so if you find any grammar errors, that's the explanation.  
I would love to have feedback and reviews, positive or negative. SO if you have anything to say after reading this story, don't hesitate to say it! :)**

**Again I wish you a nice reading experience!**

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_Ouch._

_Ouch!_

_Oh dear Lord!_

At that moment Cristina just wanted to sink under the ground. That would've been so nice. No more wobbling down the corridor like a clumsy clown, no more glaring at the stunned bystanders leering at her... and no more shame or that unbareable pain that was burning her.

_Stupid, stupid, stupid! _Cristina couldn't understand how she could have been so incautious. It was infuriating. She was a world-class surgeon and there she was, tottering around the hospital carrying with her a can of cold-gel, some bandages and a very nasty burn in a very nasty place. And all this because of a horny guy, a very stupid idea and a missing friend.

Yep, at that moment, the gap felt like just the right place for her. Especially when she felt someone standing behind her back and heard a voice asking: "Why are you walking like that?"

_Oh crap! _Cristina turned around and saw Alex, who was looking at her questioningly while munching an apple. "Um... I've got a burn", she answered and tottered forward.

"Where?"

"Go away."

Alex came after her – as if the situation wasn't already embarrassing enough. "Hey, were both doctors, no need to be embarrassed –"

"I'm not _embarrassed_", she quickly corrected, though her blushing face told otherwise. "I'm just waiting for Meredith. Now go away!"

"I let you treat my tick", Alex whined. "Come on!"

"This is not a tick..."

Cristina was about to continue her walk of shame, when suddenly Lexie Grey appeared out of nowhere and theatrically threw herself to the empty bed next to them. "Today sucks. Mark sucks."

Cristina wasn't really in the mood to listen to Lexie's whines about men and was about to tell her that when Alex suddenly blurted: "Yea, and Yang got burns on her girl-parts."

"What?" Lexie took interest and sat up. "How?"

Cristina glared at Alex and turned away. Where in the hell was Meredith? "I do not... It's not on my _girl-parts_."

Alex raised an eyebrow. "Well, then it's on your ass. Look how she is walking..."

"Don't you two have patients?" Cristina urged. The situation was already bad enough, there was no need for two nosy colleagues asking stupid questions.

"No", Lexie replied. "Now tell us: how did you get burns on your butt?"

Thank God, at that moment Meredith appeared. "You paged me?"

"Mer!" There was obvious relief in Cristina's voice as she handed the cold-gel and the bandages to her friend and pulled her with her. "Come. And the rest of you – _BYE!_"

Alex and Lexie were left to watch as Cristina and Meredith walked to an empty bed and disappeared behind the curtain. A second later their their expressions became baffled as they heard Meredith exclaim from behind the curtain: "OH MY GOD!"

"Shh! Not so loud!" Cristina hissed. She had pulled down her pants and was now lying on her stomach on the bed, leaning on her elbows. Meredith was standing behind her with the cold-gel, staring at her bare bottom. "How did you... What did you... You have grate marks burned into your ass!"

"Yea, vent marks, but same difference. Could you just do your job now?"

Meredith started to rub cold-gel to the wound. Cristina tried not to flinch. "Not that it's any of my business", Meredith said, "but how did you manage to...?"

Cristina rolled her eyes and looked at her over her shoulder. "I was too busy having sex."

"What?" Meredith yelped and then tried to speak: "This is a...? What were you... Is this some kind of _brand_?"

"We were in the Vent", Cristina explained. "We were so busy focusing on each other that we forgot to be careful. Next thing I know, my ass is on fire. Now could you please just dress the wound?"

Meredith looked at Cristina, shocked, and then continued tending the wound. Cristina was quiet for a while and then decided to fill the silence. "Owen's being very caveman-like. It's hot – vaguely disturbing but mostly hot. I... I think he might still be a little upset that I offered him to Teddy. What do you think?"

Meredith was about to answer, when suddenly the curtain behind them was torn aside and Alex and Lexie peeked in. As they saw the burn in Cristina's butt, their jaws dropped.

"Alex!" Cristina and Meredith yelled in unison.

"Yang! Hot-cross buns!" Alex said, smirking.

"That's going to blister", Lexie said with a grimace on her face.

"Hey! Get them out of here!" Cristina shouted to Meredith as the latter's pager suddenly beeped. Meredith checked it and stood up. "Bailey's paging me. I have to go."

"What about me?" Cristina exclaimed.

Meredith turned to Lexie and Alex. "Lexie, will you finish this for me? Alex, you're coming with me."

"Mer, come on! I will hate you for this!"

"Relax. Don't worry", Alex smirked. "Lexie will fix you up and you'll be playing Jane with your Caveman in no time!"

"Oh you!" Cristina grabbed the lid of the cold-gel can from the bedside table and threw it at Alex, who dodged. "When I get back on my feet, you better watch out, Karev!"

"Oh come on! At least let me buy Hunt a beer. That must be the most insane sex injury in the history of Seattle Grace!"

"Come on!" Meredith yanked Alex with her and closed the curtain. Lexie picked up the lid from the floor and then started to dress Cristina's wound. Cristina was sulking and staring at the wall.

"So this is really a sex injury?" Lexie asked with slight admiration in her voice.

"Grey, not now."

"So it _is_. Wow! I used to have sex injuries with Mark. Mark was really awesome at leaving you with good sex injuries..."

Cristina heard a sob and rolled her eyes. "Please don't cry on my ass."

"I'm sorry..."

"Please don't cry."

Lexie gave a sniff and then pulled herself back together. The next few minutes went in silence as Lexie dressed the wound. Once everything was set, she collected the supplies and said: "Okay, I'm going to leave you alone now."

"You do that. And thanks", Cristina said while pulling up her pants.

Lexie was about to leave, but then stopped at the curtain. "Cristina."

"What?"

"I think you should talk with him. As a man, he may not show it, but he's still hurt. What I've learned about men is that when they feel uncertain or threatened, they try to prove their value by going to extremes. That's how I got my sex injuries with Mark."

Lexie left the room and left Cristina alone. She still lay on her stomach and stared at the wall, but she didn't sulk anymore. She was thinking about what Lexie had said. Though she didn't want to admit it, little sister Grey had given her a good piece of advice.

As she thought about her words she suddenly heard the curtain being pushed aside and a male voice saying: "Cristina?"

"Karev, if you say one more word about this, I swear I'm going to..." Cristina said angrily and looked over her shoulder. At that moment she paused: the man wasn't Alex. It was Owen.

"Owen! I'm sorry, I thought you were..."

"Karev, yea, I figured. I was just going to stop by and ask if you're okay."

"Of course I'm okay. Why wouldn't I be?"

Owen walked to the bed and sat next to Cristina. "I'm so sorry. I didn't even notice that the grate was there and... I didn't mean to hurt you again."

"Hey." Cristina sat up and looked at Owen. "First, you didn't hurt me, the grate did. And second, it didn't even hurt that much. I have a high pain threshold."

Owen raised his eyebrows. "You screamed."

"In case you didn't notice, I was screaming already before being branded, and it had nothing to do with pain. Accidents happen, Owen. Don't worry about it. Plus thanks to you, we now hold the title of the most insane sex injury in the history of this hospital. And because of that, Karev promised to buy you a beer.

Owen chuckled. "I guess that's something, too."

They sat silent for a while. Cristina once more played Lexie's little speech in her mind before saying: "Can we meet later today? In some place quiet?"

Owen looked at Cristina and smiled a little. "Sure. As long as that place isn't the Vent."

"Cristina laughed. "I'm serious. I would like to spend some quality time with you, just be with you and just... _be_. In peace, without any rush or red-hot grates."

Owen nodded. "Okay."

Cristina was silent for a moment and then said: "Owen, you do know that you don't need to worry about anything. I love you and we don't have to hurry anywhere."

"I know." Owen leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to Cristina's forehead. Suddenly his pager beeped. "It must be Shepherd. I promised to help him with a patient. I need to go."

"Okay. I'll see you later."

They shared a brief kiss before Owen got up and left. Cristina sat on the bed. She noticed that her ass didn't hurt that much anymore.

"You call this the most insane sex injury ever?" She muttered to herself as she got up. "You'll see, Karev, that once all this has been settled, we'll make an even better sex injury."

And she appeared from behind the curtain and headed back to work. But this time her journey wasn't a walk of shame. It was a stir of pride. And as she went, the thought: _Much, much better!_


End file.
